Asia Overtakes Europe to become the Global Number One Consumption Market!
Reflecting Production Volume Growth, Chinese Consumption Surpasses 40 million kl!

Kirin Institute of Food and Lifestyle (Kirin Holdings Company, Ltd., Kazuyasu Kato, President and CEO) has compiled its 2008 per-capita beer consumption report. The report summarizes statistics obtained through independent questionnaire surveys answered by various beer associations located in major countries around the world, as well as the latest documents available from overseas. Kirin has been using surveys to track consumption statistics since 1975.

[Summary]

Total global beer consumption for 2008 was approximately 178.06 million kl (1.2% year-on-year increase). This marked the 23rd consecutive year of growth in beer consumption, despite the challenging economy.

A country-by-country analysis shows that China (4.3% year-on-year increase) was again the world's number one consumer for the sixth consecutive year, surpassing the 40 million kl mark in both production and consumption for the first time.

By region, Asia demonstrated marked growth (3.0% increase), expanding its share of global beer consumption, passing Europe to become the world's number one beer consumption market.

Total global beer consumption for 2008 was approximately 178.06 million kl, an increase of nearly 2.15 million kl (1.2% annual increase) over the prior year, and the 23rd consecutive year of increased consumption. The amount of beer consumed during 2008 would have filled the Tokyo Dome nearly 144 times over (Tokyo Dome internal volume amounts to 1.24 million kl), 1.7 more times than the volume consumed in the prior year.

China was once again the number one consumer of beer in the world, marking its sixth-consecutive year since 2003 to win that title. There were no changes in rankings among the top eight global consumers between 2007 and 2008.

Japan maintained its spot in the rankings; however, consumption experienced a 2.7% annual decrease due to price increases (necessitated by higher raw materials prices), an aging population, and diversification in preferences.

By region, all areas demonstrated increased annual consumption, with the exception of Europe.

Asia experienced a 3.0% year-on year increase to become the world's number one in global market share, with China, Vietnam, and the Philippines making significant contributions to steady consumption growth.

While Romania and the Czech Republic demonstrated favorable consumption trends, leading countries such as Germany, United Kingdom and Spain all experienced declines in consumption, and Europe as a whole reported a decline in beer consumption for the first time in 10 years.

For the 16th consecutive year, the Czech Republic led all other nations in per-capita beer consumption. We noted significant per-capita declines in Ireland, United Kingdom, Belgium and other western European nations, with Poland and Romania being standouts in terms of European growth and rank advancement for per-capita consumption.

On a 633ml bottle basis, Japan experienced a per-capita decline of roughly 2.1 bottles compared to the prior year.

Note: Figures for Japan represent the total of beer, low-malt beer and new genre.

Note: Figures for the prior year (2007) represent the latest available, and may not correspond with our prior-year survey.

Global beer consumption increased by 1.2%, despite the challenging economic environment. 2008 represented the 23rd consecutive year of growth. There were no changes in rankings among the top eight countries.

China surpassed 40 million kl in both beer production and consumption for the first time in 2008. While consumption growth appeared to slacken somewhat compared to the prior year (11.8% growth in 2007), the country still turned in a respectable 4.3% increase. The beer-drinking trend in China has increased with an expanding population and higher living standards tied to economic growth.

Russia had been experienced high growth rates in recent years, but only eked out 1.5% growth for 2008.

Japan maintained its spot in the rankings; however, consumption experienced a 2.7% annual decrease due to price increases (necessitated by higher raw materials prices), an aging population, and diversification in preferences.

* Figures for Japan represent the total of beer, low-malt beer, and new genre

2008 Beer Consumption by Region

[Comments]

Europe experienced a slight decline compared to the prior year; however, other regions continued to grow.

With the contributions of China (2.9% increase), the Philippines (4.3% increase) and other countries, Asia grew 3.0% year-on-year. In addition to pushing total global consumption, Asia overtook Europe to become the largest beer-consumption region in the world.

While Romania (4.1% increase) and the Czech Republic (2.6% increase) made contributions, Russia, which had been growing at high annual rates recently, only grew 1.5% in beer consumption for 2008. Germany (0.8% decrease), United Kingdom (4.1% decrease) and Spain (6.0% decrease) represented some of the major countries that experienced declines, bringing Europe to a year-on-year decline for the first time in 10 years.

While overall beer consumption is low in the Middle East, the region grew at 7.4%--highest among all regions—with Turkey (30th; 7.5% increase) and Israel (82nd; 8.2% increase) making the most significant contributions in the area.